With families and communities affected by scourge of HIV and AIDS, the Department of Health and Social Development will, this financial year, implement social protection programmes to counter the negative impact of the pandemic.
These will include amongst others, scaling-up targeted social safety net measures and increasing support to NGOs that support the poor, that address the immediate needs of the worst affected and assist to feed the hungry.
Delivering her second budget speech, MEC Rebecca Kasienyane said that a contribution towards the national agenda of halving new HIV infection rates by 50 percent by 2011, the department will be ramping up behaviour change programmes and intensifying its social mobilisation programmes.
"We will be funding prevention partnership programmes targeting amongst others, the youth, moreover these programmes will campaign to confront the growing practice of multiple-concurrent partners (MCP) in partnership with Soul City," she said.
In response to the mandate set out by the national policy framework on orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS, the Social Development Department will launch the provincial orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) action plan (2010 to 2013) and lead the establishment of Provincial Action Committee on Orphans and Children made Vulnerable by HIV and AIDS (PACCA).
Kasienyane said over 3 000 job opportunities be created with funds committed to social welfare related programmes like Social Auxiliary Worker learnerships, Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme, National Youth Service, Home and Community Based Care, Love Life and Early Childhood Development (ECD).
"We will also create additional 118 job opportunities through the home and community based care (HCBC), Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) conditional grant received from National Treasury," she said.
Enquiries:
Tebogo Lekgethwane
Cell: 082 929 9958
E-mail: tlekgethwane@nwpg.gov.za
Ngwako J Motsieng
Tel: 018 387 5740
Cell: 082 964 8838
Cell: 082 097 4970
Fax to e-mail: 086 634 2993
E-mail: nmotsieng@nwpg.gov.za or nmotsieng@gmail.com.
